


The Russian Princess and the Veteran

by vdova



Category: Black Widow (Comics), Marvel (Movies), Marvel 616, Marvel Cinematic Universe, Winter Soldier (Comics)
Genre: #BuckyNat Week, F/M, I don't live in New York what am I doing, James the piano player, Meet-Cute, Nat's dad is a jerk, Natasha the ballerina, Performing Arts AU
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-03-17
Updated: 2015-03-17
Packaged: 2018-03-18 06:19:31
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,744
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3559265
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/vdova/pseuds/vdova
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Upper East Side Russian Princess Natalia Romanoff is studying ballet at Julliard when she meets recent war veteran and Brooklyn resident James Barnes, who just happens to play piano. The professionalism fades away after practice as the two wind up locking lips in a taxi. It's like a fairy tale- evil parents included.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Russian Princess and the Veteran

**Author's Note:**

> The artwork was done by WienerSoldier (is there a way to hotlink that? I'm so new to ao3 it's not even funny). They also have a great tumblr name that made me chuckle.

Well, it wasn’t the strangest way that Natalia had gotten a guy’s number. It certainly wasn’t a number wrapped around a rose thrown on stage, or some doe eyed ass hole nearly tackling her in the street. Yet having a guy hand her his roommate’s number instead of his own? Either she was completely off her game, or the skinny blonde boy was just a little _too_ oblivious for her own tastes. Or maybe Natalia could blame it on mentioning her need for a piano player. Whatever had led to the current events, at least she’d found herself a piano player that wasn’t going to try and sleep with her.

The strange mix of thoughts flying through her brain was apparently enough of a distraction, since the studio doors opened and closed without catching her attention. Natalia continued about her routine, humming the melody to herself. The sound of something heavy hitting the ground startled her, and Natalia landed rather hard on her hip, rolling over to stare in shock at the man who had caught her by surprise.

“Oh, shit, I’m sorry!” the man called, basically sprinting to Natalia’s side to help her up. The surprise hadn’t quite warn off, now that the ballerina was looking over who had caused her to fall. Steve had clearly not given the man justice. He looked able to throw Natalia over his shoulder and walk off with her, and the thought didn’t strike her as completely awful. She must have been staring, since he was fretting over her still.

“No, it’s fine,” she finally managed, swatting his hand away as he tried to press it to her forehead, “I fall all the time. Part of being a ballerina, or dancer in general I guess.” He still looked concerned, so she held her hand out, “I’m Natalia. It’s March, we’re in New York. See? No lasting damage beyond a bruise, which I’m fairly used to after doing ballet for two decades.”

Another few moments of silence passed between the two until he took the hand offered to him and shook, his other hand rubbing down his face. “I’m sorry. Name’s James, though my friends call me Bucky. Wait, _you’re_ Natalia?”

Whatever hope she’d had of a normal guy seeing her as normal seeped out of her at the way he was looking at her. She nodded slowly, gently pulling her hand away from him. “Yes, I’m Natalia Romanoff, the dancer you’re meeting today. I thought I explained that well enough over text?”

Well the boy had a thing for staying silent for long periods of time, she’d give him that much. This time, though, James lurched slightly, like he was dragging himself out of a daydream of some kind. “I guess I just didn’t put it together. Steve and I came to a performance you were in before I was deployed. You weren’t a feature, but red headed ballerinas aren’t common. Couldn’t take my eyes off…” he trailed off, cheeks heating to a slight pink tint that caused Natalia to grin.

She didn’t comment on the blush, thought it lifted her spirits and made her hip hurt less. Natalia motioned for him to follow her to the piano, where sheet music was already spread across the top of it. “It’s an original composition. For our recitals this term, we’re supposed to team up with a music student and they play their original piece while we do our original choreography. Problem is, my composer is currently on the other side of the country visiting his sickly mother, and the performance is next Thursday.” Natalia glanced up at James expecting to see at least some sort of fear or worry, but the embarrassed look on his face had melted away to determination and something she couldn’t quite place. His toe was tapping, which was as good as sign as any for her. “So, is it doable?”

James nodded, moving to sit at the piano and pressing a few keys. “I might be a little rusty, since I only got back a few weeks ago, but I played whenever I could while I was overseas. Give me about twenty minutes to figure this out, then we can do a run through.”

She patted him on the back, deciding to not comment. Natalia returned to the center of the studio to stretch, splaying out in splits to begin with before looking back up at James. Normally, her piano players had a habit of staring at her as she stretched or did really anything, but instead, James was hard at work, fingers dancing over the keys in a clumsy yet efficient manner. For a fleeting moment, she was almost glad that Sam’s mother had taken ill so she would run into James, but then she shook her head and returned to her stretching.

What seemed like only a few minutes later, James waved for Natalia’s attention. “Think I’ve got it. Want to try a quick run through?”

It wasn’t “quick” by any stretch of the imagination. When James had entered the studio, it had been light outside with the sun still in the air. The windows that lined the back wall showed a pitch black exterior when Natalia finally signaled for him to cut the music. Sweat beaded down her temple and pooled on her collar bone, and when she called time out, James stretched his fingers like they were aching. He pushed away from the piano slowly and mechanically, moving to offer Natalia a hand up from the spot she’d laid out on the floor. The red head took the hand offered, teetering slightly once on her own feet. “I take your current state of exhaustion to mean you’re done for the night?” James’ fingers brushed over her upper arms to make sure she wasn’t about to topple back over.

“Unless you’d like to mop up whatever is left of me in the next half hour, yes, we are done.” Without warning, Natalia dropped forward into another split, causing James back to hop back in surprise. “Sorry, cool down stretches. The last thing I need is waking up tomorrow as one giant knot of pain.” While laid out on the ground, Natalia pulled her hair from the air tight bun she’d wrapped it on. As her red curls fell around her shoulders and neck, she finally caught James looking at her with something other than mild interest. A smile brushed across her lips, and she flipped her hair back to look up at the man. “Alright, so how am I going to repay you for being such a sport about playing for me on such short notice? I’ve got money. Could pay your rent for a month, maybe?”

She might as well have offered to blow him considering the look on his face. Natalia pushed off the floor and onto her feet in one fluid motion, cocking a brow at the man who now looked horribly confused. “Alright, so now you know martial arts or something,” he laughed, an edge of nervous energy on his voice, “No on the rent. Call it a favor. Or just buy me dinner or something.”

Natalia nodded, patting him on the arm before walking towards the locker room entrance. “Meet me outside in 20 minutes, and I’ll take you out, alright?”

She didn’t give him much time to answer, since the door to the lockers was swinging shut while he was still dragging his mouth up off the floor. Considering that it was his first time in the studio and had no idea what she was talking about, James went about shutting the place down. Light off, doors seemingly locked, he collected the sheet music and headed back outside to wait by his motorcycle. The short wait was made worth it when he glanced towards the door at the sign of movement and was met with a cleaned up Natalia, who had changed into a pair of skinny jeans and a leather jacket. “Not the Russian Princess I took you for, though the leotard and having previously seen you in a tutu does kind of ruin that image.”

Natalia laughed, smacking him gently on the arm. “Great, if my rep’s gotten out to Brooklyn, then I really don’t have much hope for the rest of the world. Come on; I’ve got just the place for dinner. Follow me?”

James was too distracted by the woman to notice her prepping a motorcycle two spots down from his. His mouth opened and made a few unattractive gaping motions before Natalia fingered waved at him, jammed her helmet on, and peeled out of the parking lot. James barely had enough time to get his bike on and working before he took off after the kamikaze that had showed up rather suddenly.  The two wove in and out of the late night traffic, Natalia very nearly losing James a few times in the trip. When he rounded the corner where she finally stopped, he nearly blew right by her on account of where they were. James circled back and killed his motor, eyebrows rising as he tugged the helmet off his head, “When you said you’d buy me dinner, I was expecting some place with tiny portions and rich people, or at least a valet. Not… this.”

Natalia shrugged, dropping her wallet into her helmet and grabbing the door of what looked like a 24 hour diner. “It’s half past ass o’clock. This is probably the only place open. Plus, it’s kind of my favorite place to eat.”

James’ opinion of the ballerina was ever changing, and seeing the people inside the establishment at ten pm helped color in a few of the details he felt were missing. It was set up like a classic 50s diner, thought he decorations spoke to a more modern era. “I greatly approve of a diner. You continue to surprise me, Princess.”

As the two seated themselves in one of the back booths, Natalia rolled her eyes. “Cool it on the nicknames, James. It’s just Natalia. Or Nat, if your American tongue can’t handle the Russian.”

Before James could respond to the dig, a brunette slid into the booth on Natalia’s side. “Cute guy, Talia. Is he yours, or can I take a crack at him?”

The blush was back on James’ face at the comment, and Natalia was laughing again. This time it was more of a deep chest chortle than a light giggle, “Ang, calm down. I met the guy like five hours ago. New piano player since Sam is still out of town.”

The two girls spoke rapidly for a few minutes, making James’ head spin. The conversation lost him halfway through, but the waitress left with an order and with James saying a word. Natalia sighed, fingers lacing together and chin propped on them, “Angie’s a friend I made frequenting this place. She knows who I am and doesn’t try and use that to her advantage. It’s a nice change.”

James tapped a beat out on the table, still trying to get his fingers to relax after the beating they’d received. “Who are you, anyways? I came to the rehearsal today expecting just another ballerina, find out it’s the Russian Princess herself, and now we’re sitting in a diner someone like me can afford. I feel like there’s an explanation or twelve here somewhere.”

Natalia opened her mouth like she had something to say, but she was interrupted a moment later by Angie returning with what looked like apple cider. Which James would have expected if he hadn’t caught the wink from Angie. A sniff confirmed his thoughts, and a brow raised at Natalia only earned him a coy smirk. Well, if he wasn’t getting answers, he could at least enjoy the hot toddy he was apparently drinking.

“Well,” she finally spoke, looking out the window so wistfully, James was tempted to look for the camera, “My grandparents immigrated to New York right after my parents were married in Russia. Grandpa hit it big in real estate, and my parents moved to join them when I was three. Grandpa died when I was six, and Grammy died not even a year later.  Papa got everything since he was their only child, and when he dies, I’ll get it all.” She shrugged, as if she’d told a story about tripping on her own feet. “That’s where the title comes from. If you look around the Upper East Side, you’ll see there aren’t a lot of Russians around. I’m pretty much it.”

He nodded, spinning the cinnamon stick around in his drink, “Alright, so that takes us up to six years old. You’re what, 20? Still leaves a lot of time.”

She scoffed, clutching a hand to her heart in mock offense, “I’m 24, I’ll have you know. And you’re right. I just figured you needed a basis for the rest of the information.”

Natalia launched into a story about being the rebellious only child, but she still managed to fall in love with ballet at a very young age. There were mentions of lovers and her father disapproving horribly of all of her decisions that weren’t “right”, and James’ heart sunk a little. It seemed that whatever future the pair had, it would end when they left the diner. Angie kept bringing them more alcohol, and James could swear it was just straight whisky by the end of it. Somewhere through their time together they moved onto James and his story, talking about his childhood with Steve, helping Steve through his mother’s death, and putting the kid through art school. James skipped over most of his time in the military; even if Natalia was slightly drunk, it wasn’t something she really needed to hear about.

It was when Angie popped over to tell the two she was going home that James finally realized what time it was, as well as how drunk he and Natalia both were. The waitress took the initiative to call them a cab and helped them outside to the thing. A passing thought about his bike made him turn to the brunette, but she waved a hand in front of her face, “Talia’s got a guy that picks her bike up when she’s out late. There’s an extra for when there’s someone else with her. Your bike will meet you back at your apartment, I swear. It’s kind of scary.”

James didn’t have time to think about the mob like aspect of the “bike guy”, since he was shoved into the waiting cab, a laughing Natalia sprawling out across his lap. A card was passed to the driver, which he assumed had her address on it. James had been out with friends before, but it seemed like the redhead in his lap was a pro at going out. “Thank you,” she murmured, James jerking out of his weird thought process, “I didn’t know what to expect from tonight. We can do this again, right?”

He pretended to think long and hard about her request, which earned him a smack on the chest. “Of course we’ll do this again. But we have rehearsal again tomorrow, right? For now, you need to get home and get some sleep. Your waitress buddy was rather heavy handed with the whiskey.”

“I love Angie,” she hummed, eyes closing for a moment. “Though I’m sure a certain veteran could earn my affection without so much booze. And maybe just his lips?”

Steve would have described James as dense from day one, but Natalia wasn’t exactly being subtle anymore. One hand wrapped around the back of her head and tugged her up to meet his lips, the kiss sloppy and far too charged with liquor and heated want that had been building since he walked into the studio. The kiss only lasted for what felt like a few moments, but James’ stomach was doing flip flops, and Natalia’s lips were turned up in a smile when she pulled away. “Just enough, so you don’t try and look elsewhere,” she murmured against his jawline before pulling away. He’d been too caught up in the kiss to notice the cab had stopped outside one of the largest buildings he’d seen. The words of wonder died in his throat as Natalia slide of the car. Before slamming the door, she poked her head back down to throw him one last smile. “I’ll see you tomorrow.”

James watched her teeter to the door, only telling the cabbie to leave once the doorman came out to meet the very drunk ballerina. He watched her as they cab drew away from the building, only turning back around when he could no longer see the redhead. Sliding down in his seat, James smiled to himself as the cab took him back to Brooklyn.

The next day, plans for the relationship were laid out. Natalia’s wording made it very clear that she’d dated someone her parents would not approve of before. The phrase “Papa wouldn’t like it” was said more than once, but James didn’t let it get to him. She was the one in the studio with him, straddling the piano bench and making it work. Most days were spent with rehearsal, but her performance came and went, the dance going down without a hitch. James was concerned that Natalia was going to severe ties after that, but he received a text from her the next morning that just read _Same place, same time? ;)_. Sure enough, when he arrived at the studio, he was met with Natalia in a leotard stretching.

They were careful. Sometimes James felt like they were being too careful, but after scanning the papers a few times out of curiosity, he realized why. Not a week went by that Natalia wasn’t featured in some ‘out and about’ spread, the captions always bearing some reference to her hair, her family, or her occupation. James had always wondered why dating actresses was like, and he guessed this was a trial in that. Most nights were either spent at the diner or the apartment James and Steve shared. Whatever questions of the legitimacy of the relationship he had were put to rest the first morning he woke up to Natalia in one of his shirts, reading a story that caused her to blush when asked about the contents.

The perfect sneaking around relationship didn’t last, though. Natalia knew they would get caught, but she’d been hoping it would have been later rather than sooner. Whatever hope of not ending up on page 6 was thrown out the window when she let her guard down for only a moment. The picture wasn’t unflattering, but gave a good picture of James’ face in profile.

“Yeah I saw it,” James groaned into his phone, dropping the paper on the coffee table loud enough to startle Steve and his girlfriend Sharon, who totally weren’t eavesdropping in the kitchen, “I’ve had seven different copies delivered to me by friends and _well-wishers_. Friend from high school asked me when the wedding was. And then asked me how to pronounce your last name.”

Natalia chuckled, the sound hollow and unamused, “I think the answer to the wedding question is ‘Over my father’s dead body’ or a simple ‘Never’. The man is going to live to 300 out of spite if he has any say in it.’ She sighed heavily, the edge in her voice something James couldn’t quite place, “Look, I just got out of practice with my trainer. My parents are both gone for the weekend. Do you want to come over so we can figure out what to do? I can practically hear Sharon and Steve eavesdropping on you right now.”

Sure enough, when James turned around, there were two blondes nearly touching him due to proximity. “Be at your place in an hour.”

“I’ll meet you downstairs,” Natalia responded quickly before hanging up. The sudden goodbye nearly made James’ head spin, but he didn’t have time to think over Natalia’s emotions. Not when his entire thought process was dominated by the high chance of getting dumped by the woman of his dreams.

As if sensing the air of misery exuding from James, Sharon patted him on the back, “Things will work out, Bucky.”

Steve was less gentle with his words of reassurance. “You knew this might happen, Buck. You two are from very different worlds.”

James fixed Steve with a cold look before standing up, the seven inches he had on the blonde shifting the conversation in his favor, “I can take care of myself now, Steve. Don’t need your meddling ass getting into everything.”

The conversation sounded stilted and hard, but smiles broke out on the boys’ lips after a beat. A clap on the back and Bucky was out the door and on his way to a world he knew he’d never really be a part of.

Natalia was waiting outside her building, as she had promised. James watched her for a few minutes before approaching, his girlfriend too busy looking at something on her phone to notice his approach until he was within arm’s length.  She jolted at his seemingly sudden appearance, locking her phone and jamming it into her pocket. The tense air around her melted away as she pulled James inside, and she waved at the doorman on their way to the elevator. Once the doors closed, Natalia pulled James down into a rough kiss, pressing him back against the elevator doors. Right as James was starting to wrap his head around what was going on, Natalia pulled away and the elevator doors opened.

They walked into what looked like the living room and dining room, James’ mind already reeling with the sheer magnitude of everything. The couch alone looked worth more than a year’s rent. James was so distracted by the expensive things he found himself surrounded by that he ran straight into Natalia, who had stopped suddenly. Before he could ask her what was wrong, James locked eyes with a man in a suit who looked like he could murder James with a look. Moreover, it looked like he was trying to do just that.

“Natalia.” The man said, the word somehow freezing cold and scalding hot all at the same time. Natalia bristled, shoulders jerking up sharply at her name. Without warning, the two launched into what James was assuming was Russian, the language rapid and angry. Every now and then, an English word would be thrown in, but it wasn’t enough for James to follow. Natalia glanced over to where James was stuck against the wall, glancing between the two angry Russians with a wild look in his eyes. Her language became more peppered with English, allowing him to follow it somewhat. It did at least confirm that the conversation was about him, but his heart sank. Natalia’s father wasn’t budging on his stance, and Natalia was cursing more and more as the conversation progressed. James felt the need to leave, but then her father said something that drove a knife into her heart. “You can’t be dating this kind of garbage.”

He didn’t hesitate this time. James made a strong motion to leave, ready to head back to Brooklyn and try and forget about his brief fling with an East Side princess. What he hadn’t counted on was Natalia grabbing his arm, and with an angry look at her father, choked off her long stream of angry Russian cursing with her lips mashing against James’. His first thought was that it was only to make her father angry, but they’d spent enough time with their lips together for him to know the feeling behind it. The kiss felt like the time she’d crawled in his lap and kiss him without warning, telling of a fight she’d been in with her mother after the fact. It wasn’t a kiss of need or anger or anything like that. No, the way her lips pressed gently but urgently against his spoke of the Russian Princess that everyone put on a pedestal who just wanted someone to look at her like a person instead of a sum of what everyone thought she was. The kiss only lasted for a moment, but it got the point across to both James and Natalia’s father.

“Papa.” Natalia’s voice was level, her eyes the same murderous look her father had worn when he saw James, “He isn’t _garbage_. You and mama came from nothing, but Grandpa gave you everything. James works had. He’s a good man, better than _you’ll_ ever be.”

Her father opened his mouth to respond, but Natalia cut him off by barreling through what she was trying to say. “I would rather be poor and with him than be in a loveless marriage with someone you and Mama choose for me. I _didn’t_ sign up for this. And I’m leaving.”

Natalia didn’t wait for a response from her father, though he started yelling again as she dragged James to the elevator. Her steadfast face held until the elevators completely closed. Bucky glanced away for a moment, and when he looked back at Natalia, she was slumped down at the bottom of the elevator with her face buried in her knees. James wasn’t entirely sure if he wanted to touch her, say something, or if she just wanted to be left alone, but Natalia answered his question for him by dropping her head back and speaking. “He gets like this more often than I’d like to admit. It’s probably the trade off in being an only child.” Her voice was level and thought out, the show of emotion James had just seen clearly wiping out whatever energy she’d had going into it. There weren’t tears, just an exhausted face that told James what he’d been thinking about- this had happened many times before.

Natalia got the two of them a cab when they finally got outside, the red head slumping into the back like she did after their nights out together. Instead of the usual drunken smile she normally wore, though, her face was a storm of emotions that James couldn’t quite piece together. She was clearly shaken, but there was something else hovering under the surface that he hadn’t seen before in their time together.

With nowhere else to go, the pair headed back to James’ apartment, Natalia’s face turning more and more away from her usual disposition and into something stormy and conflicted. She didn’t say anything as they climbed the stairs, and James knew better than to try and push anything out of her. Natalia was a strong willed and confident woman, but she looked fragile and vulnerable after the fight with her dad. Once inside the apartment, Natalia tugged James over to his upright piano and sat next to him, the request for him to play something not needing to be said. James started playing a lullaby he’d learned early in his piano playing experience, Natalia’s head slowly laying onto his shoulder. The melody was simple enough that he didn’t have to move much, which apparently allowed Natalia to fall asleep on his shoulder. James slowly eased off the keys, allowing the sound to die out as Natalia’s breaths evened and steadied. He wasn’t sure how long they sat like that, but both were jolted awake by Natalia’s phone going off in her pocket. James took a dive off the back of the bench, landing hard and loud enough for both Steve and Sharon to suddenly appear in the living room. Natalia, on the other hand, nearly threw her phone across the room with all the fumbling. Before checking who was calling, she answered the phone, “Hello?”

The three spectators watched as Natalia’s face contorted through a million different emotions, before settling on a mixture of anger and sadness. Realizing that she had an audience, Natalia moved into James room and shut the door, the Russian coming into the living room muffled. Sharon and Steve shot James questioning looks, but his entire response was to just shrug and push up off the ground.

The phone conversation only lasted a few minutes, but Natalia left James’ room looking like she hadn’t slept in weeks. “Hey are you..?” James started, but was cut off when Natalia wrapped her arms around his waist and buried her face in his chest. A muffled sigh that sounded like it hid tears come from her, but James didn’t question it. Instead, he wrapped his arms around her shoulders and made quiet humming noises of comfort. Sharon and Steve took the hint to disappear back into Steve’s room, the radio turning on right after to muffle… something.

“That was my dad. He wants me home.”

James had been thinking that’s what it was, and yet hoping he’d been wrong. He paused to mull over his words, but clearly that wasn’t the best idea, since Natalia pulled her head back and scrunched her face up in confusion. “Thoughts? Reaction? Something?”

“Do you _want_ to go back? Nat, I can’t tell you what you should and shouldn’t do. I’m just here to help support your choices, you know.” He didn’t think the words over, instead letting them come naturally. Which he immediately thought had been a bad idea, considering how she pulled away, but the smile on her face told a different story.

“I told him I’d be home tomorrow.” Well, it wasn’t what he’d expected to hear, but Bucky still cracked a small smile at the look on her face. “And I’m glad you said that. I’ve been in this situation before with another boyfriend. He told me to just leave my family behind without a second thought.” Natalia sighed, dropping her head back and raking hands down her face before looking at James again, “While not an unattractive idea, he’s still my dad. He might be an ass, but he does have some semblance of my best interests at heart. He’s just… misguided. And an ass.”

James chuckled, running a hand through Natalia’s hair. The pair sat out in the kitchen until the sky was dark and the sounds of the city outside died down, talking about pretty much everything other than Natalia’s father and the conversation they were going to have the next day. Eventually they found their way back into James’ room, but sleep didn’t really befall the two of them. Instead, both pretended to fall asleep to comfort the other. Right as the sun came up the next morning, both stirred and pretended to be drowsy from sleep. The truth of “I didn’t sleep because I’m afraid of what’s about to happen” was shoved under in favor of morning kisses and fake-groggy moving around. After the morning rituals were completed (including Natalia stealing one of James’ shirts instead of wearing the same clothes), they headed back to Natalia’s place to face her father.

When the elevator doors opened on Natalia’s apartment, James realized just how fast his heart was racing. And judging by the pulse beating out a rhythm in her wrist, Natalia was just as nervous as he was. Seeing her composure broken like this made James’ heart ache, but that was thrown out the window the moment he noticed Natalia’s father. A thick silence fell over the trio, minutes passing before Natalia finally spoke, “Where’s mom?”

“Still in Khiv. I haven’t contacted her about this,” her father replied, folded his arms over his chest, “I figured she doesn’t need to be bothered if an agreeable arrangement can be reached.”

Were Natalia a cat, the hair on her back would have stuck up. “James, would you wait in my room for me? Down the hall, third down on the left.”

He obliged, glancing over his shoulder once before disappearing into the massive room he’d been directed to. To begin with, James was too interested in poking through Natalia’s things to try and eavesdrop on the conversation, but a couple minutes of looking through ballet pictures from the last couple decades and James realized that there wasn’t any yelling. He pressed an ear to the door for a moment, but he only heard muffled speech coming from the living room. James leaned further into the door, trying to make out any of the words, but the door suddenly swung open. He face planted on the hallway, flipping onto his back to see a very amused Natalia staring down at him.

“If you would kindly dust yourself off and head back into my room, I’ll explain what we talked about,” she said, a small smile on her face as she stepped over James and into her room.

He was back on his feet and in the room momentarily, closing the door behind him. As he flipped around, he watched Natalia drop back against her bed with an exasperated sigh. She motioned for him to join her, which he did by sitting next to her. “Short story: he said I can date you. Long story: there are so many strings attached that he only hinted at that I might as well be a marionette.”

The momentary elation that James felt at the go ahead for the relationship was squashed immediately at the mention of conditions. “What do you mean hinted at? Were you just drawing conclusions, or did he say something?”

She chuckled, propping herself up on her elbows to look up at James better. Her face contorted into some kind of angry face, her brow furrowed and lips pursed, her voice low as she spoke, “You will finish school and get a job and make a name for yourself since _that boy_ won’t be doing anything worthwhile. I won’t support you all your life, you know.” Her face broke back into a smile, shrugging, “I also told him I’m moving out once I finish school. So you might have to make room in your closet for some of my things.”

James nodded, tugging Natalia towards him to press a kiss to her forehead, “That’s a ways off, if I’m remembering right. We’ll figure something out when we get there, alright?” A smile tugged at his lips, “I love you, Natalia. I’m glad we got over this without too much angry Russian yelling.”

“I love you too, James,” she murmured, tucking herself into his lap, head under his chin, “But I’m not quite sure you know what you’ve gotten yourself into.”

**Author's Note:**

> Apologies for the grammar errors I know are in there. Finals came out of no where and took all of my time (I put my Natasha tumblr on hiatus for 2+ weeks, a first). Also, this is the first bang I've ever participated in, so I appreciate the patience I received from both my artist and the mod of FYBN. I will be keeping an eye out for more of these, now that I know what to expect.


End file.
